System and Method for Traffic Control for Machine Type Communications in a Wireless Communications System

ABSTRACT

A method for operating a wireless device configured for wireless communications includes receiving a reporting request including a reporting condition that information stored at the device is required to satisfy in order for the device to transmit the information, and initiating an uplink transmission procedure to transmit the information when the reporting condition is satisfied.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/625,909 filed on Feb. 19, 2015 by William A. Gage and entitled“System and Method for Traffic Control for Machine Type Communicationsin a Wireless Communications System,” which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference as if reproduced in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to digital communications, andmore particularly to a system and method for traffic control for machinetype communications (MTC) in a wireless communications system.

BACKGROUND

Machine type communications (MTC), also commonly referred to asmachine-to-machine (M2M) communications, is a communication between twoor more entities that does not necessarily need any direct humanintervention. MTC typically involves a device (such as a sensor ormeter) that captures an event or detects a condition within its localenvironment which is then communicated through a communications systemto an application that translates the captured event or condition intomeaningful information or actions. Systems that utilize MTC may be ableto provide new services, improve existing processes, and the like.

Therefore, devices using MTC are expected to be a major source oftraffic and revenue in future communications systems, such as the ThirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution-Advanced(LTE-A) and fifth generation (5G) communications systems. It is expectedthat in the year 2020, approximate device population will be on theorder of about 100 times that of current 3GPP LTE communicationssystems, with about 1000 active devices per cell, about 10,000 totaldevices (active and inactive) per cell, and about 100,000 devices persquare kilometer.

If transmissions from the MTC devices are not constrained, the combinedtraffic can overwhelm the radio interface and possibly the networkinfrastructure, potentially leading to congestion collapse. Hence, thereis a need for a system and method for controlling transmissions(traffic) in such communications systems.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Example embodiments of the present disclosure which provide a system andmethod for traffic control for machine type communications (MTC) in awireless communications system.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure, amethod for operating a wireless device configured for wirelesscommunications is provided. The method includes receiving, by thewireless device, a reporting request including a reporting conditionthat information stored at the device is required to satisfy in orderfor the device to transmit the information. The method also includesinitiating, by the wireless device, an uplink transmission procedure totransmit the information when the reporting condition is satisfied.

In accordance with another example embodiment of the present disclosure,a method for operating a base station is provided. The method includesgenerating, by the base station, a reporting request including a firstreporting condition that is configured to prompt a device to transmitinformation stored at the device to the base station when theinformation satisfies the first reporting condition, and transmitting,by the base station, the reporting request to the device. The methodalso includes receiving, by the base station, the information from thedevice in accordance with the reporting request.

In accordance with another example embodiment of the present disclosure,a wireless device is provided. The wireless device includes a receiver,and a processor operatively coupled to the receiver. The receiverreceives a reporting request from a base station, the reporting requestincludes a reporting condition that information stored at the device isrequired to satisfy in order for the device to transmit the information.The processor initiates an uplink transmission procedure to transmit theinformation when the reporting condition is satisfied.

In accordance with another example embodiment of the present disclosure,a base station is provided. The base station includes a processor, atransmitter operatively coupled to the processor, and a receiveroperatively coupled to the processor. The processor generates areporting request including a first reporting condition that isconfigured to prompt a device to transmit information stored at thedevice to the base station when the information satisfies the firstreporting condition. The transmitter transmits the reporting request tothe device. The receiver receives the information from the device inaccordance with the reporting request.

One advantage of an embodiment is that reporting machine typecommunications devices (MTCDs) can be limited to those MTCDs that haveinformation of interest.

Another advantage is that information may be prioritized and higherpriority information may be allowed a different successful transmissionprobability than lower priority information.

A further advantage of an embodiment is that devices may be sampled andthe information may be prioritized according to results of the sampling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communications system according to exampleembodiments described herein;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example communications system highlighting MTCoperation according to example embodiments described herein;

FIG. 3a illustrates a flow diagram of example operations occurring in aMTCD as the MTCD transmits a report while utilizing content-basedtraffic control according to example embodiments described herein;

FIG. 3b illustrates a flow diagram of example operations occurring in aMTCD as the MTCD participates in periodic reporting according to exampleembodiments described herein;

FIG. 4a illustrates a flow diagram of example operations occurring in aMTC Application using content-based traffic control according to exampleembodiments described herein;

FIG. 4b illustrates a flow diagram of example operations occurring in aBS participating in content-based traffic control according to exampleembodiments described herein;

FIG. 5a illustrates a flow diagram of example operations occurring in aMTC Application utilizing sampling to determine an informationdistribution according to example embodiments described herein;

FIG. 5b illustrates a flow diagram of example operations occurring in aBS participating in sampling to determine an information distributionaccording to example embodiments described herein;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example MTCD according to example embodimentsdescribed herein; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an example Base Station according to exampleembodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The operating of the current example embodiments and the structurethereof are discussed in detail below. It should be appreciated,however, that the present disclosure provides many applicable inventiveconcepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts.The specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specificstructures of the disclosure and ways to operate the disclosure, and donot limit the scope of the disclosure.

One embodiment of the disclosure relates to traffic control for MTC. Forexample, a wireless device receives a reporting request including areporting condition that information stored at the device is required tosatisfy in order for the device to transmit the information, andinitiates an uplink transmission procedure to transmit the informationwhen the reporting condition is satisfied.

The present disclosure will be described with respect to exampleembodiments in a specific context, namely communications systems thatsupport MTC and use information stored at devices to perform trafficcontrol. The disclosure may be applied to standards compliantcommunications systems, such as those that are compliant with ThirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP), IEEE 802.11, and the like,technical standards, and non-standards compliant communications systems,that support MTC and use information stored at devices to performtraffic control. The disclosure may also be applied to non-MTC systemsand use information stored at devices to perform traffic control.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communications system 100. Communicationssystem 100 includes a Base Station (BS) 105 serving a plurality ofdevices, such as user equipments (UEs), including UE 110 and UE 114, andMTC devices (MTCDs), including MTCD 112, MTCD 116, and MTCD 120. Ingeneral, a UE may be used to refer to a device that support human-typecommunications (HTC), such as voice, multimedia, web browsing, and thelike, and a MTCD may be used to refer to a devices that provide only MTCfunctionality without any HTC functionality, as well as devices thatprovide both HTC and MTC functionality. BS 105 is serving the pluralityof devices (UEs and/or MTCDs) by receiving transmissions from devices(such as UEs and/or MTCDs) and then forwarding the transmissions to itsintended destinations. In such a communications mode, BS 105 and theplurality of UEs and MTCDs are said to be operating in a cellular orinfrastructure mode. Base Stations may also be commonly referred to asNodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), access points, controllers,communications controllers, interworking functions, and the like, whileUEs may also be commonly referred to as wireless devices, mobiledevices, mobiles, mobile stations, terminals, users, subscribers,stations, smartphones, and the like. MTCDs may also be commonly referredto as sensors, actuators, machines, monitors, transponders, gauges, andthe like.

While it is understood that communications systems may employ multipleBSs capable of communicating with any number of devices (e.g., UEsand/or MTCDs), only one BS, and a number of devices are illustrated forsimplicity.

An example application of MTC involves sensors (an example of a MTCD)that periodically report their sensor readings. Examples of sensorsinclude weather sensors, temperature sensors, security sensors, firesensors, health sensors, structural sensors, vehicular sensors, and thelike. In general, a sensor will transmit its sensor reading and onlyoccasionally will receive a transmission. Additionally, the sensortypically transmits only occasionally, for example, once every fewseconds, minutes, hours, or days. Furthermore, the sensor readings aregenerally small, on the order of a few bytes (e.g., packets on the orderof 10 to 100 bytes). Therefore, machine-type communications may becharacterized as uplink dominated traffic with very short packets andvery long inter-packet arrival times.

Although the discussion of the example embodiments discussed hereinfocuses on sensors and their related transmissions, the exampleembodiments presented herein are operable with other forms of MTCtraffic, as well as non-MTC traffic where traffic control is performedin accordance with the content of the information being stored at thedevices. Therefore, the discussion presented herein should not beconstrued as being limiting to either the scope or the spirit of theexample embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example communications system 200 highlighting MTCoperation. Communications system 200 includes a BS 205 serving aplurality of devices. Some of the devices may be operating in the MTCmode, such as MTCDs 210-222. Some of the devices operating in the MTCmode may be MTC only devices, while others may be UEs that incorporateMTCD functionality. An MTC Application 250 may provide BS 205 withinstructions for communicating with one or more of the MTCDs 210-222.Reports received from one or more of the MTCDs 210-222 are may berelayed by BS 205 to MTC Application 250.

As discussed previously, MTCDs may periodically transmit small amountsof information, such as sensor data, to BS 205. BS 205 may processand/or aggregate the information from the MTCDs and forward theprocessed information to a MTC application, such as MTC Application 250.However, due to the long intervals between transmissions, the MTCDs mayenter a low power (or idle and/or sleep) state and may need to obtainuplink resources prior to transmitting their information. If thetransmissions from the MTCDs are not constrained, the combined trafficfrom the large number of MTCDs can overwhelm the radio interface andpossibly the network infrastructure), leading to congestion andpotential collapse. Furthermore, due to short packet sizes, there may bea disproportionately high level of control overhead associated with thetransmissions of the information from the MTDCs. This may be furtherexacerbated if the information indicates nothing is abnormal and BS 205or MTC Application 250 discards the information.

According to an example embodiment, a MTCD determines if it is totransmit its information in accordance with the content of theinformation that it has stored and a reporting request received from itsserving BS. In general, the reporting request may be a message receivedfrom an entity, such as a BS, a MTC Application, and the like, thatincludes criterion or criteria that are used for content-based trafficcontrol. In some example embodiments, the reporting request may includea paging record. Typically, the paging record includes at least onereporting condition, which must be met by the content of the informationstored at the MTCD in order for the MTCD to report the information. TheMTCD compares its information with a reporting condition of the pagingrecord and if the information (the content of the information) meets thereporting condition, the MTCD may transmit the information. According toan example embodiment, the reporting condition may be expressed as athreshold value or as the current state detected by the MTCD. Accordingto another example embodiment, the reporting condition may be expressedas a change (a delta) or a rate of change with respect to a previousreport(s). The use of a change or a rate of change may enable theidentification of MTCDs that are sensing rapidly changing conditions.According to an alternate example embodiment, the reporting condition(s)may be signaled to the MTCD prior to paging using higher layersignaling, such as radio resource control (RRC) signaling. Subsequentreporting condition(s) included in a paging record(s) may takeprecedence over reporting conditions received using higher layersignaling.

As an illustrative example, the reporting condition of the paging recordmay specify that if temperature information recorded by a MTCD isgreater or less than a temperature threshold, the MTCD may transmit theinformation. As another illustrative example, the reporting condition ofthe paging record may specify if door sensor switch state informationrecorded by a MTCD indicates that the door is in an opened or unlockedstate, the MTCD may transmit the information. As yet anotherillustrative example, the reporting condition of the paging record mayspecify if heart sensor information recording by a MTCD indicates thatthe heart rate is greater or less than a heart rate threshold, the MTCDmay transmit the information. As yet another illustrative example, thereporting condition of the paging record may specify if water sensorinformation recorded by a MTCD indicates that there is water on thefloor, the MTCD may transmit the information. As a further illustrativeexample, the reporting condition of the paging record may specify ifcarbon monoxide sensor information recorded by a MTCD indicates thatthere is no carbon monoxide present, the MTCD may not transmit theinformation.

The paging record may also include other conditions, such as a paginggroup condition, which may specify a paging group identifier to which aMTCD must belong in order for the MTCD to transmit its information(assuming that the information meets the reporting condition). Thepaging record may also include a selection condition, which may specifyan attribute(s) of the MTCD, such as the location of the device, thetime interval since the last report, the type of device, or the identityof the business entity or application that owns the device, and thelike. The MTCD attributes must include an attribute meeting theselection condition in order for the MTCD to transmit its information(assuming that the MTCD meets any other condition of the paging record).

FIG. 3a illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 300 occurringin a MTCD as the MTCD transmits a report while utilizing content-basedtraffic control. Operations 300 may be indicative of operationsoccurring in a MTCD, such as MTCDs 210-222, as the MTCD transmits areport while utilizing content-based traffic control.

Operations 300 may begin with the MTCD receiving a reporting requestcomprising a paging record(s) including a reporting condition(s) (block305). In addition to the reporting condition, the paging record(s) mayalso include a paging group condition and/or a selection condition.According to an example embodiment, in a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE)system the paging record may be found in a physical downlink sharedchannel (PDSCH). As an illustrative example, the MTCD may search in aphysical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for a downlink controlinformation (DCI) block that is configured with a content-based MTCpaging radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), MC-RNTI. The MC-RNTImay be a reserved RNTI value similar in purpose to a paging RNTI(P-RNTI). The MC-RNTI may indicate a region in the PDSCH that containsone or more paging records.

As an illustrative example, each of the paging records may include areporting condition and potentially one or more of a group condition(e.g., a MTC paging group identifier), a selection condition, an uplinkchannel identifier, and the like. As discussed previously, the reportingcondition may specify one or more values or ranges that informationstored at the MTCD meets in order to transmit a report. The groupcondition may specify a MTC group that is associated with the pagingrecord. In other words, the paging record applies to MTCDs belonging tothe MTC group as identified in the group condition. The selectioncondition may specify one or more attributes that the MTCD meets inorder to transmit a report. Examples of the selection condition mayinclude geo-location information, MTCD type, MTCD priority, informationtype, information priority, and the like. The uplink channel identifierin the paging record may specify an uplink channel to use for a reportthat matches the reporting and selection criteria. In an exampleembodiment, the uplink channel identifier may identify a dedicatedphysical random access channel (PRACH) or a PRACH partition of one ormore PRACH resources assigned to MTCDs. In another embodiment, theuplink channel identifier may identify a contention-based channel thatthe MTCDs can use to transmit their report(s). In other words, theuplink channel identifier identifies one or more resources that can beused by the MTCD(s) that satisfy the condition(s) of the paging recordto transmit or attempt to transmit their reports. The radio resourcescomprising the uplink channel may be indicated in the reporting requestor may be indicated separately in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) messageor may be broadcast by the BS (in a System Information Block (SIB), forexample).

The MTCD may perform a check to determine if the condition(s) of thereporting request (e.g., the paging record) is satisfied or met (block310). As an illustrative example, if the paging record includes areporting condition, the MTCD may check to determine if its informationsatisfies the reporting condition. As another illustrative example, ifthe reporting condition of the paging record includes a group conditionand a reporting condition, the MTCD may check to determine it belongs toa group identified in the group condition and if its informationsatisfies the reporting condition. As yet another illustrative example,if the reporting condition of the paging record includes a groupcondition, a reporting condition, and a selection condition, the MTCDmay check to determine it belongs to a group identified in the groupcondition, if its information satisfies the reporting condition, and ifits attributes satisfy the selection condition.

If the condition(s) of the reporting request (e.g., the paging record)is met, the MTCD may initiate an uplink transmission procedure inaccordance with the uplink channel identifier to transmit its report(block 315). As an illustrative example, a PRACH partition identifiermay identify a PRACH partition (of one or more PRACH resources, forexample) wherein the MTCD may initiate a random access procedure totransmit its report. As another illustrative example, a contention-basedchannel identifier may identify a contention-based uplink channelwherein the MTCD may initiate a contention-based transmission procedureto transmit its report. It is rioted that the MTCD may not be able tocomplete the transmission of its report even if it initiates the randomaccess procedure or contention-based transmission procedure. In such asituation, the MTCD may be configured to retry at a subsequent time.Alternatively, the MTCD may abort its attempt to transmit its report andwait for another opportunity associated with a later paging record. Ifthe condition(s) of the reporting request (e.g., paging record) is notmet, operations 300 may end.

The reporting request may include an uplink transmission schedule. Anuplink transmission schedule may be used to implement periodicreporting. According to an example embodiment, periodic reporting isimplemented using content-based traffic control. Periodic reporting mayinvolve the use of a report time condition that is met before the MTCDdetermines if it meets the condition(s) in the paging records. Thereport time condition may be provided to the MTCD in an uplinktransmission schedule and/or a paging record.

FIG. 3b illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 350 occurringin a MTCD as the MTCD participates in periodic reporting. Operations 350may be indicative of operations occurring in a MTCD, such as MTCDs210-222, as the MTCD participates in periodic reporting.

Operations 350 may begin with the receiving a reporting requestcomprising an uplink transmission schedule(s) including a reportingcondition(s) and a report time condition(s) (block 355). The uplinktransmission schedule(s) may include the reporting condition(s) and thereport time condition(s). Alternatively, the report time condition(s)may be signaled to the MTCD separate from the reporting condition(s).The report time condition(s) may be signaled to the MTCD using higherlayer signaling, such as radio resource control (RRC) signaling.Similarly, the reporting condition(s) may be signaled to the MTCD usinghigher layer signaling, such as RRC signaling. The report time conditionmay be in the form of a time interval between reports, a timer value,specific report times, and the like. When the report time condition ismet, e.g., at a time as specified by the time interval (for example, atan expiration of a timer set to the time interval) (block 360), the MTCDattempts to determine if it meets the conditions in the uplinktransmission schedule(s) (block 365). If the MTCD meets the reportingcondition(s) of the uplink transmission schedule(s), the MTCD initiatesan uplink transmission procedure to transmit a report (block 370), whileif the MTCD does not meet the reporting condition(s), the MTCD refrainsfrom transmitting and operations 350 may end. According to an alternateexample embodiment, the report time condition(s) may be signaled to theMTCD using higher layer signaling, such as RRC signaling, and thereporting condition(s) may be signaled to the MTCD in a paging record.If the MTCD meets the conditions of the paging record(s), the MTCDinitiates an uplink transmission procedure according to the report timeconditions indicated using higher layer signaling.

According to an example embodiment, a BS provides a paging recordincluding a reporting condition, as well as potentially one or more of agroup condition, a selection condition, an uplink channel identifier,and the like, that if met by information stored at a MTCD would allowthe MTCD to transmit the information or attempt to transmit theinformation. According to an example embodiment, a MTC Applicationprovides instructions to a BS including a reporting condition, as wellas potentially one or more of a group condition, a selection condition,and a sampling indication.

According to an example embodiment, a MTC Application samples MTCDsusing paging records to determine a distribution of information storedat the MTCDs. The MTC Application may provide the BS with a variety ofreporting criteria. The BS incorporates the reporting criteria intopaging records transmitted to the MTCDs and receives transmitted reports(if any) from the MTCDs which the BS relays to the MTC Application.Received reports corresponding to paging records indicate that there areMTCDs with information that satisfy the condition(s) of the pagingrecords, while paging records that resulted in no received reportsindicate that there are no MTCDs that satisfy such condition(s). Whilesampling, the MTC Application may not be interested in actuallyreceiving the information in the reports. Therefore, the BS may not needto allocate a large number of uplink resources typically needed tosupport the reporting of the information. For example, a single MACHresource may be sufficient for each paging record in order for the BS todetect that at least one MTCD has information meeting the condition(s)of the paging record. The MTC Application may then instruct the BS toconfigure paging records with sufficient uplink resources to actuallyreceive the information satisfying the paging records used in sampling.

FIG. 4a illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 400 occurringin a MTC Application using content-based traffic control. Operations 400may be indicative of operations occurring in a MTC Application, such asMTC Application 250, as the MTC Application uses content-based trafficcontrol.

Operations 400 may begin with the MTC Application sampling MTCDs (block405). Sampling may be a technique used by an MTC Application to obtain adistribution of information stored at the MTCDs, as well as adistribution of the MTCDs themselves. According to an exampleembodiment, the MTC Application instructs a BS to transmit a pluralityof paging records with each paging record including a condition(s) inwhich the MTC Application is interested. As an illustrative example, apaging record may include a condition specifying that only MTCDs of type“security sensor” with door sensor information equal to “open” report.The MTC Application may receive anywhere from o to a plurality ofreports from the BS in accordance with responses to the paging records,e.g., if none of the paging conditions are met, then the MTC applicationwill not receive any reports. Alternatively, the MTC Application mayreceive a summary of the received reports from the BS. As anillustrative example, the summary of the received reports may includeindicators of which paging report(s) received a report. A detaileddescription of an example sampling process at the MTC Application isprovided below. The MTC Application may prioritize the informationstored at the MTCDs based on the received reports, as well as otherinformation (block 410). Examples of the other information that the MTCApplication may utilize to prioritize the information stored at theMTCDs may include MTCD priority information, MTCD type information, MTCDgroup information, MTCD geo-location information, MTCD attributeinformation, time-date information, information type, informationpriority, and the like.

The MTC Application may determine the condition(s) for polling the MTCDsin accordance with the prioritized information (block 415). Since theMTC Application knows the distribution of the information stored at theMTCDs, the MTC Application will typically not utilize a condition(s)that does not correspond to one or more reports. The MTC Application mayalso define the treatment (e.g., processing) to be afforded to thereports. As an illustrative example, the MTC Application may specify atraffic class (or quality of service (QoS) code point), a forwardingequivalence class, and the like to be used by the BS when allocatinguplink channel resources and/or when forwarding reports to the MTCApplication.

The MTC Application may provide the condition(s) for polling to the BS(block 420). The BS may use the condition(s) to generate pagingrecord(s). The MTC Application may receive reports responsive to thepaging record(s) (block 425). The MTC Application may receive reportsforwarded by the BS. The reports may be from MTCDs that meet thecondition(s) of the paging record(s). Alternatively, the MTC Applicationmay receive the information contained in the reports or a summary of theinformation contained in the reports. The reports may be received at theBS as a result of the random access procedures using the PRACHpartitions or as a result of contention-based transmissions occurring inthe uplink contention-based channels identified in the paging recordstransmitted by the BS. The MTC Application may process the informationincluded in the received reports (block 430).

FIG. 4b illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 450 occurringin a BS participating in content-based traffic control. Operations 450may be indicative of operations occurring in a BS, such as BS 205, asthe BS participates in content-based traffic control.

Operations 450 may begin with the BS receiving condition(s) forreporting (block 455). The BS may also receive treatment(s) for thereports received due to the condition(s). The BS may allocate resourcesfor reporting purposes, e.g., PRACH partitions or contention-basedchannels for receiving reports from MTCDs (block 460). The BS mayallocate a number of resources commensurate with an expected number ofMTCDs sending reports, the prioritized information, and the like. As anillustrative example, the BS may allocate a relatively large PRACHpartition to reduce the probability of collision for information with ahigh priority and with an expected large number of reports, while lowpriority information with an expected small number of reports may beallocated a relatively small PRACH partition. The BS (as well as the MTCApplication) may also consider historical information in thedetermination of the number of resources. As an illustrative example,the BS may assign a relatively small PRACH partition for informationthat has had a history of small number of reports even if it has a highpriority. As yet another illustrative example, the BS may allocate PRACHresources on demand, such as in sequential random access.

The BS may generate and send reporting requests (e.g., paging records),including the condition(s) (block 465). According to an exampleembodiment, the syntax of the condition(s) is based on a class or typeof MTCD within the groups being paged. As an illustrative example, for afirst MTCD class or type with limited capabilities, a paging conditionmay be a small number (e.g., binary) that is interpreted by the firstMTCD to be a particular filter, such as “if reporting condition=3, thenapply filter x”. This technique is similar to dictionary basedcompression techniques wherein the filter dictionary is preconfigured inthe first MTCD either during manufacturing, during installation, duringattachment, dynamically using signaling (e.g., application layersignaling), and the like. As another illustrative example, for a secondMTCD class or type with more capabilities, a paging condition may beexpressed in some form of general purpose query language, semanticallyalong the lines of a structured query language (SQL), such as “selecttemperature from temperature_sensor where (temperature>100) and(device.location=zone 4)”.

The BS may receive reports from the MTCD(s) (block 470). The reports maybe received as a result of the random access procedures using the PRACHpartitions or as a result of contention-based transmissions occurring inthe uplink contention-based channels identified in the paging recordstransmitted by the BS. The BS may, after receiving responses from theMTCD(s), allocate additional resources to allow the MTCD(s) to send theinformation to the BS. The BS may send the received reports (orinformation included in the received reports) to the MTC Application(block 475). The BS may provide processing to some of the report(s)prior to forwarding the report(s) in accordance with treatment(s)received.

According to an example embodiment, the BS may utilize a prioritizedpolling technique when it is transmitting the paging records. In otherwords, the transmission of the paging records may be scheduled toreflect a relative importance of the information that the BS isintending to request. The relative importance may, for example, havebeen communicated in the instructions provided to the BS by the MTCApplication. As an illustrative example, the BS may transmit pagingrecords for “highly critical” information at a first rate (e.g., oncevery T1 seconds), paging records for “important” information at a secondrate (e.g., once every T2 seconds), and paging records for “normal”information at a third rate (e.g., once every T3 seconds), whereT1<T2<T3.

FIG. 5a illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 500 occurringin a MTC Application utilizing sampling to determine an informationdistribution. Operations 500 may be indicative of operations occurringin a MIC Application, such as MIC Application 250, as the MTCApplication uses sampling to determine an information distribution.Operations 500 may be an example implementation of block 405 of FIG. 4a, sampling devices.

Operations 500 may begin with the MTC Application determininginformation to sample (block 505). The MTC Application may determinewhich type of information to sample, as well as sampling ranges. The MTCApplication may determine condition(s) for paging records in accordancewith the information to sample (block 510). As an illustrative example,the MTC Application may request a sampling of temperatures as recordedby temperature sensors with temperature ranges below 10 degrees, 11-20degrees, 21-30 degrees, 31-40 degrees, 41-50 degrees, and over 51degrees. As another illustrative example, the MTC Application mayrequest a sampling of rainfall amounts as recorded by rain sensors withrain fall ranges o inches, 0.01 to 0.25 inches, 0.26 to 0.50 inches,0.51 to 0.75 inches, 0.76 to 1.0 inches, and 1.01 and above. As yetanother illustrative example, the MTC Application may request a samplingof door sensor state as recorded by door sensors with door sensor stateequal to unlocked for front door, door sensor state equal to open forgarage door, door sensor state equal to unlocked for back door, and doorsensor state equal to unlocked for basement door.

The MTC Application may send the condition(s) to the BS (block 515). TheMTC Application may also send treatment(s) to the BS. The MTCApplication may receive reports from the BS (block 520). The reportsfrom the BS may include the reports received by the BS or they may be asummary of the reports received by the BS. The MTC Application mayprocess the received reports to determine a distribution of informationqueued at the MTCDs (block 525).

FIG. 5b illustrates a flow diagram of example operations 550 occurringin a BS participating in sampling to determine an informationdistribution. Operations 550 may be indicative of operations occurringat a BS, such as BS 205, as the BS participates in sampling to determinean information distribution.

The BS may receive condition(s) for reporting request(s) (e.g., pagingrecord(s)) as related to sampling from a MTC Application (block 555).The BS may determine uplink resources (e.g., Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequencesfor an LTE PRACH partition) for reporting the information samples (block560). As discussed previously, when sampling, the MIC Application isgenerally not interested in actually receiving the information beingsampled. Instead, the MTC Application is using sampling to determine ifthere are MTCDs storing information meeting the condition(s) of thereporting request (e.g., paging record). Hence, the BS may not beconcerned with collisions and may be interested in receiving responsesonly as an indication that the condition(s) associated with thereporting request (e.g., paging record) is being met. Therefore the BSmay be able to allocate a small number of uplink resources per reportingrequest (e.g., paging record), for example a minimum number of PRACH ZCsequences required for a MTCD to perform the random access procedure. Asan illustrative example, consider a situation wherein the MTCApplication requests a sampling of temperatures recorded by temperaturesensors. An example set of sampling ranges and PRACH resource is asfollows:

-   -   100<temperature=PRACH resource 10 (e.g., ZC sequence 10);    -   90<temperature<100=PRACH resource 9 (e.g., ZC sequence 9);    -   80<temperature<90=PRACH resource 8 (e.g., ZC sequence 8);    -   70<temperature<80=PRACH resource 7 (e.g., ZC sequence 7); and        the like.

The BS may generate and send the reporting requests (e.g., pagingrecords)in accordance with the condition(s) related to sampling and thePRACH resources and transmit the reporting requests (block 565). The BSmay begin to receive transmissions on the assigned uplink resources(block 570). In other words, the BS may begin to receive transmissionsof the ZC sequences with different ZC sequences corresponding todifferent reporting requests. In general, the presence or absence of atransmitted ZC sequence is noted by the BS. Random access collisions(when more than one MTCD transmits the same ZC sequence) may be ignoredsince the BS is typically not interested in the information being sentby the MTCDs. Additionally, since the BS is interested in the responsesfrom the MTCDs and not the information itself, the BS may not makesubsequent assignment of resources for the transmission of theinformation by the MTCDs that initiated the uplink transmissionprocedures, for example, PUSCH resources corresponding to random accessprocedures.

The BS may forward a report of the received transmissions (e.g., the ZCtransmissions) to the MTC Application (block 575). Alternatively, the BSmay process the received ZC transmissions to obtain a distribution ofthe information queued at the MTCDs which is then communicated by the BSto the MTC Application. As an illustrative example, if the BS receivedone or more transmissions on a PRACH resource assigned to a first pagingrecord, the BS and MTC Application are able to determine that there isat least one MTCD with information meeting the condition(s) of the firstpaging record. As another illustrative example, if the BS does notreceive any transmissions on a PRACH resource assigned to a secondpaging record, the BS and MTC Application are able to determine thatthere are no MTCDs with information meeting the condition(s) of thesecond paging record. Therefore, from the response(s) to the pagingrecords, the MTC Application may be able to obtain distributioninformation about information stored by the MTCDs. Hence, from a singlesampling process, the BS and hence, the MTC Application, can obtain adistribution of information from different MTCDs. The MTC Applicationmay determine subsequent actions based on the distribution ofinformation.

When using a contention-based channel (CBCH) for reporting, the BS mayassign a different CBCH for each of the sampling ranges (block 560). Ifthe BS successfully receives a transmission (e.g., a sample report) in aCBCH or if the BS detects a collision (e.g., resulting from two or moresample reports) in a CBCH assigned to a first reporting request (e.g.paging record) (block 570), the BS and MTC Application are able todetermine that there is at least one MTCD with information meeting thecondition(s) of the first reporting request. If the BS does not detectany transmissions or collisions on a CBCH assigned to a second reportingrequest, the BS and MTC Application are able to determine that there areno MTCDs with information meeting the condition(s) of the secondreporting request.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example first communications device 600.Communications device 600 may be an implementation of a communicationsdevice, such as a machine-type communications device, or a wirelessdevice, a mobile device, a mobile, a mobile station, a terminal, user, asubscriber, a station, a smartphone and the like, with MTCDfunctionality. Communications device 600 may be used to implementvarious ones of the embodiments discussed herein. As shown in FIG. 6, atransmitter 605 is configured to transmit frames, reports, and the like.Communications device 600 also includes a receiver 610 that isconfigured to receive frames, reporting requests (e.g. paging records),uplink transmission schedules, and the like.

A condition processing unit 620 is configured to determine if conditionsof reporting requests (e.g. paging records and/or uplink transmissionschedules) are met by information stored by communications device 600.Condition processing unit 620 is configured to process the conditions ofthe reporting requests (e.g., paging records and/or uplink transmissionschedules), including reporting conditions, selection conditions, paginggroup condition, and the like, to determine if the information stored bycommunications device 600, as well as attributes of communicationsdevice 600, meet the conditions of the reporting requests. In general,condition processing unit 620 is configured to process the conditionsand generate conditional operations from the conditions to allow forcomparisons. A comparing unit 622 is configured to compare theinformation and/or attributes with the conditional operations todetermine if the conditions of the reporting requests (e.g., pagingrecords and/or uplink transmission schedules) are met. An uplinktransmission processing unit 624 is configured to initiate and/orperform uplink procedures to allow communications device 600 totransmit. Uplink processing unit 624 is configured to utilize uplinkresources as allocated in paging records and/or uplink transmissionschedules. A memory 630 is configured to store reporting requests (e.g.paging records and/or uplink transmission schedules), conditions,information, attributes, group identifiers, uplink resource identifiers,and the like.

The elements of communications device 600 may be implemented as specifichardware logic blocks. In an alternative, the elements of communicationsdevice 600 may be implemented as software executing in a processor,controller, application specific integrated circuit, or so on. In yetanother alternative, the elements of communications device 600 maybeimplemented as a combination of software and/or hardware.

As an example, receiver 610 and transmitter 605 may be implemented as aspecific hardware block, while condition processing unit 620, comparingunit 622, and uplink processing unit 624 may be software modulesexecuting in a microprocessor (such as processor 615) or a customcircuit or a custom compiled logic array of a field programmable logicarray. Condition processing unit 620, comparing unit 622, and uplinkprocessing unit 624 may be modules stored in memory 630.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example second communications device 700.Communications device 700 may be an implementation of a communicationscontroller, such as an eNB, MTC Application server, interworkingfunction, NodeB, access point, base station, controller, and the like.Communications device 700 may be used to implement various ones of theembodiments discussed herein. As shown in FIG. 7, a transmitter 705 isconfigured to transmit frames, reporting requests (e.g., paging recordsand/or uplink transmission schedules), and the like. Communicationsdevice 700 also includes a receiver 710 that is configured to receiveframes, reports, and the like.

A condition defining unit 720 is configured to define conditions toperform content-based traffic control. Condition defining unit 720 isconfigured to define conditions such as reporting conditions, selectionconditions, paging group condition, and the like, to control sending ofreports from a MTCD to communications device 700 based on content ofinformation and/or attributes of the MTCD. The conditions are used togenerate reporting requests (e.g., paging records and/or uplinktransmission schedules). A resource allocating unit 722 is configured toallocate uplink resources to allow MTCDs that meet the conditions ofpaging records and/or uplink transmission schedules to transmit orattempt to transmit reports to communications device 700. Differentuplink resources may be assigned to different reporting requests. Amessage sending unit 724 is configured to send (or transmit) messages,such as paging records and/or uplink transmission schedules. A reportprocessing unit 726 is configured to process reports received bycommunications device 700. Report processing unit 726 is configured toprocess reports received from MTCDs to obtain the information in thereports. Report processing unit 726 is configured to processtransmissions received in uplink resources to sample a distribution ofinformation stored at MTCDs. A memory 730 is configured to storereporting requests (e.g., paging records and/or uplink transmissionschedules), conditions, information, attributes, group identifiers,uplink resource identifiers, reports, information distributions, and thelike.

The elements of communications device 700 may be implemented as specifichardware logic blocks. In an alternative, the elements of communicationsdevice 700 may be implemented as software executing in a processor,controller, application specific integrated circuit, or so on. In yetanother alternative, the elements of communications device 700 may beimplemented as a combination of software and/or hardware.

As an example, receiver 710 and transmitter 705 may be implemented as aspecific hardware block, while condition defining unit 720, resourceallocating unit 722, message sending unit 724, and report processingunit 726 may be software modules executing in a microprocessor (such asprocessor 715) or a custom circuit or a custom compiled logic array of afield programmable logic array. Condition defining unit 720, resourceallocating unit 722, message sending unit 724, and report processingunit 726 may be modules stored in memory 730.

Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been describedin detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutionsand alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a network device, themethod comprising: transmitting, by the network device, a samplinginstruction towards a base station configured to communicate with one ormore machine type communication devices, the sampling instructionprompting the base station to transmit paging records to the one or moremachine type communication devices to sample information from the one ormore machine type communication devices; receiving, at the networkdevice, a report from the base station, the report being indicative ofat least one response to the paging records that the base stationreceived from the one or more machine type communication devices; andprocessing, at the network device, the report to determine adistribution of the information stored at the one or more machine typecommunication devices.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the samplinginstruction comprises a condition for the paging records determined inaccordance with the information to sample from the one or more machinetype communication devices, and wherein the sampling instruction promptsthe base station to transmit the condition in at least one of the pagingrecords.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the report comprises asummary of each response to the paging records that the base stationreceived from the one or more machine type communication devices.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the receiving comprises receiving, at thenetwork device, a plurality of reports from the base station, eachreport of the plurality of reports being indicative of a differentresponse to the paging records that the base station received from theone or more machine type communication devices, and the processingcomprises processing each of the plurality of reports to determine thedistribution of the information stored at the one or more machine typecommunication devices.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the reportreceived from the base station indicative of the at least one responsethat the base station received from at least one of the one or moremachine type communication devices is determined by the base stationbased on an association between the at least one response and one of thepaging records.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the samplinginstruction further comprises a treatment to be afforded to the reportfrom the base station.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the samplinginstruction further comprises a range for the information to be sampledfrom the one or more machine type communication devices.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein the information comprises information indicative ofsensor data recorded by the one or more machine type communicationdevices.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprisesattributes of the one or more machine type communication devices. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein processing further comprises:prioritizing, at the network device, the information stored at the oneor more machine type communication devices based on the report.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the prioritizing further comprises:prioritizing, by the network device, the information stored at the oneor more machine type communication devices based on other informationassociated with the report, the other information including at least oneof: machine type communication device priority information, machine typecommunication device type information, machine type communication devicegroup information, machine type communication device geo-locationinformation, machine type communication device attribute information,time-date information, information type, information priority.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: determining, at the networkdevice, a polling condition for polling second information from the oneor more machine type communication devices based on the prioritizedinformation; transmitting, by the network device towards a base station,a polling instruction comprising the polling condition, the pollinginstruction prompting the base station to transmit second paging recordsto the one or more machine type communication devices based on thepolling condition to poll information from the one or more machine typecommunication devices; receiving, at the network device, one or moresecond reports from the base station, each of the one or more secondreports comprising the second information the base station received fromone or more machine type communication devices that meet the pollingcondition; and processing, at the network device, the second informationincluded in the one or more second reports.
 13. A network devicecomprising: a processor; a memory operatively coupled to the processorand storing computer-readable instructions, which when executed by theprocessor cause the network device to: transmit a sampling instructiontowards a base station configured to communicate with one or moremachine type communication devices, the sampling instruction promptingthe base station to transmit paging records to the one or more machinetype communication devices to sample information from the one or moremachine type communication devices; receive a report from the basestation, the report being indicative of at least one response to thepaging records that the base station received from the one or moremachine type communication devices; and process the report to determinea distribution of the information stored at the one or more machine typecommunication devices.
 14. The network device of claim 13, wherein thesampling instruction comprises a condition for the paging records, thecondition for the paging records determined in accordance with theinformation to be sampled from the one or more machine typecommunication devices, and wherein the sampling instruction prompts thebase station to transmit the condition in at least one of the pagingrecords.
 15. The network device of claim 13, wherein the reportcomprises a summary of each response to the paging records that the basestation received from the one or more machine type communicationdevices.
 16. The network device of claim 13, wherein thecomputer-readable instructions, which when executed by the processorcause the network device to receive a plurality of reports from the basestation, each of the plurality of reports from the base stationindicative of a different response to the pages records that the basestation received from the one or more machine type communicationdevices.
 17. The network device of claim 13, wherein the report receivedfrom the base station indicative of the at least one response that thebase station received from the one or more machine type communicationdevices is determined by the base station based on an associationbetween the at least one response and one of the paging records.
 18. Thenetwork device of claim 13, wherein the sampling instruction furthercomprises a treatment to be afforded to the report from the basestation.
 19. The network device of claim 13, wherein the samplinginstruction further comprises a range for the information to be sampledfrom the one or more machine type communication devices.
 20. The networkdevice of claim 13, wherein the information comprises informationindicative of sensor data recorded by the one or more machine typecommunication devices.
 21. The network device of claim 13, wherein theinformation comprises attributes of the one or more machine typecommunication devices.
 22. The network device of claim 13, wherein thecomputer-readable instructions, which when executed by the processorcause the network device to: prioritize the information stored at theone or more machine type communication devices based on the report. 23.The network device of claim 22, wherein the information stored at theone or more machine type communication devices is prioritized based onother information associated with the report, the other informationincluding at least one of: machine type communication device priorityinformation, machine type communication device type information, machinetype communication device group information, machine type communicationdevice geo-location information, machine type communication deviceattribute information, time-date information, information type,information priority.
 24. The network device of claim 23, wherein thecomputer-readable instructions, which when executed by the processorcause the network device to: determine a polling condition for pollingsecond information from the one or more machine type communicationdevices based on the prioritized information; transmit a pollinginstruction comprising the polling condition, the polling instructionprompting the base station to transmit second paging records to the oneor more machine type communication devices based on the pollingcondition to poll information from the one or more machine typecommunication devices; receive one or more second reports from the basestation, each of the one or more second reports comprising the secondinformation that the base station received from one or more machine typecommunication devices that meet the polling condition; and process thesecond information included in the one or more second reports.
 25. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-readableinstructions, which when executed by a processor of a network device,cause the network device to: transmit a sampling instruction towards abase station configured to communicate with one or more machine typecommunication devices, the sampling instruction prompting the basestation to transmit paging records to the one or more machine typecommunication devices to sample information from the one or more machinetype communication devices; receive a report from the base station, thereport being indicative of at least one response to the paging recordsthat the base station received from the one or more machine typecommunication devices; and process the report to determine adistribution of the information stored at the one or more machine typecommunication devices.